The Great Lakes tour continues as we travel to Chicago, Milwaukee, and back to Chicago.

Game #26: Giants versus White Sox at Rate Field in Chicago, June 28

A World Series title will heal wounds for decades. In 2005 the White Sox ended an 87-year title drought. Everyone who cheered them during that one glorious year – a 4-0 sweep of the Astros – will give the team grace for the rest of their lives because they saw them win a title. This is true even when a team is really bad over a long period of time, like the White Sox of the last three seasons. The team is on its way to its third consecutive season with 100 losses.

PREVIOUSLY:

All dispatches from the Sprint can be found at this link.

But let’s back up to the title from 1917, when the White Sox defeated the New York Giants. They won 100 games in the regular season and defeated the Giants, 4 game to 2 in the World Series. Two years later the Sox were in the World Series again, heavily favored against the Cincinnati Reds. That was 1919 – the year of what became known as the Black Sox Scandal. Eight White Sox players colluded with gamblers to lose the World Series. Even trying to lose, they still won three games. Before anyone knew about what they had done, the team was battling Cleveland for the American League title in 1920. In September the gambling allegations came to light, the eight players were suspended, and the White Sox were never the same. They only made it to one more World Series in the next 85 years. But 2005 healed all wounds.

Game atmosphere: Positive

“Let’s go White Sox,” was a cry in the desert from Samuel Arteaga. There seemed to be plenty of White Sox fans around him – and some fans of the visiting Giants - but none of the Sox fans were joining Arteaga in his attempt to start a cheer. Maybe it was a lack of faith. The score was knotted at 0-0 in the fifth and the White Sox aren’t having a banner year. I walked over to Arteaga, told him I noticed him trying to start some White Sox cheers and asked if I could sit next to him. “Are you going to help?” he asked. “No, I’m going to interview you.”

Custom jerseys are handy for visiting journalists. Photo: Trepiak.

I told him what we were about, and he told me why he will always cheers for the White Sox. “Being here in ’05 is the highlight of my life,” said Arteaga. “That will stay with me forever.” Regarding the team’s recent struggles, Arteaga is philosophical. “I’m here as a fan. I like to see fastballs, good catches, home runs. I’m a South-Sider, born and raised. For me it’s more of a family environment versus the North Side (where the Cubs play). I feel more comfortable being here with my family and my kids and enjoying summertime baseball.” When I asked how to spell his last name, Arteaga showed me the back of his custom White Sox jersey.

It was a decent crowd for a last-place team. No one seemed interested in matching Arteaga for cheering volume. We found out some of the fans were actually undercover Cubs fans who, like Arteaga, just love to watch baseball. The game was punctuated with outstanding defensive plays on both sides, and a solo homer from Andrew Benintendi of the White Sox in the sixth inning was the only scoring of the day.

Rate Field opened in 1991 as New Comiskey Park, replacing the original Comiskey Park where the White Sox had played since 1910. It has an open concourse in the outfield which is also where you will find the three-level Kids Zone. This area in left field is tightly secured to ensure that only adults accompanied by children enter the area. A security manager reluctantly gave us a supervised tour of the area, pointing out the various play stations that are entirely free. There was a mini-ball field, tee-ball, batting cages, a pitching station and a place where kids can race down a track. … There is no downtown Chicago skyline to see from the park, although you can wander to one of the concourse ramps to catch a glimpse of it.

They one-upped all the mascot-race parks with the Sox Baby Race. Babies and their parents were in the Kids Zone and each baby had to crawl across a pad to get to their parents. Very entertaining. I’m sure there have been baby races in the past where there was no winner in the allotted time. There was one other fun promotion we have not seen anywhere else. It was called Catching Flies where the contestant went to the outfield between innings to catch three fly balls in order to win a prize from United Airlines.

Ballpark cuisine: Positive

Rate Field offered a good balance between traditional ballpark fare and specialty, regional and ethnic food – many from local vendors. Since we were in Chicago, it seemed appropriate to try the Chicago-style hot dog. There were several different vendors offering this local delicacy, and we settled on the Footlong Comiskey with its tomato, relish, dill pickle spear, sport peppers, mustard, onions and celery salt. There is a nice crunch with the dill pickle. It is definitely better than any traditional hot dog but does not crash our Top 5. We tried another hot dog – a Pineapple Slaw Dog – which consists of a Vienna all beef hot dog topped with pineapple slaw and sriracha sauce. The slaw was fresh, not mushy, and the pineapple countered well with the heat of the sriracha. Our only issue was how the hot dog was put together. With everything stacked on top of the hot dog, the toppings fell off easily as you tried to take a bite. Perhaps a layer of slaw, then hot dog, then more slaw would have fixed this problem.

We also tried the OG Sando at Fuku. The OG Sando is a chicken sandwich with a crispy habanero-brined chicken breast, Fuku mayo and pickle on a potato roll. While tasty, let’s just say it looked a lot bigger in the picture posted by the menu. It seemed so-so at first but the spice kicked in to redeem it.

Two of the best options at the park – Strawberry Cream Nachos and Loaded Brisket Curds – are only available in a premium seating section. Some of the local food experiences at Rate Field include Gran Elotes (featuring Mexican street corn), 35th Street Tacos, Cuban Comet Sandwiches (a shout out to former White Sox player Minnie Minoso), Buona (Italian Beef and Meatball sandwiches; Buona has 26 locations in Chicago area), Polish and Colombian Fusion with Short Rib Emparogi’s (coffee-braised short rib with potato and cheese dumplings and crema) and Sal Chi Papa (smoked kielbasa with golden fried potatoes, garlic and tomato aioli, pineapple glaze and chives), Lucky’s Korean Dogs featuring the El Diabo (mozzarella, flaming hot Cheetos, sambai mayo and Fu sauce), and Smokehouse (barbecue sandwich or barbecue nachos or barbecue loaded mac and cheese).

Club hospitality: Neutral

This game had a most unusual sequence of events from the team media relations department.

I could not get anyone to respond. Many emails sent over a 12-day period to seven different people were seemingly ignored. To put this in perspective, of the other 28 teams contacted to date (with a single email), 11 responded within a day, another five responded within two days. I even emailed the Giants media relations person to see if he could help with the White Sox game. He answered – after 18 minutes – that the visiting team could not provide media tickets. The day before and the day of the game I sent a text to different people in the media relations department. Still no response. But 90 minutes before the gates opened at Rate Field, two tickets to the game appeared in my account. Good tickets, too. Behind home plate, 33 rows up.

Game details: White Sox win 1-0. Attendance 20,090. Time of game: 2:09.

Helpful tips: Bag policy – Bags must be clear and no bigger than 12”x12”x6”. Regular-sized purses are okay. No backpacks. … Fans can bring food into the park in a clear food storage bag no larger than 1 gallon. A factory-sealed plastic bottle of pure water no larger than one liter is permitted. … Parking is $27 (prepaid) to $30 except on Sundays when it is $17 (prepaid) to $20.

You don’t see that every day: Strike-him-out, pick-him-off double-play. With no outs in the sixth inning, Brett Wisely of the Giants had just successfully goaded pitcher Adrian Houser into a balk by dancing off second base, putting runners at second and third. But Houser and catcher Edgar Queso got the last laugh. After Rafael Devers swung and missed on strike three, Quero fired another strike to third to double-off Wisely who had strayed a bit too far from the bag.

Game #27: Rockies versus Brewers at American Family Field in Milwaukee, June 29

The Brewers have an interesting history. They started in Seattle as the Pilots in 1969, then they moved to Milwaukee in 1970. They used to be in the American League, then they moved to the National League in 1998. They have never won a World Series title. In fact, they have been to only one World Series, a 1982 loss in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. None of this matters to Brewers fans. What matters are three simple things: Brats, burgers and beer. Those three things, mixed with family and friends and a grill, are the all the ingredients needed for a tailgating lifestyle

“Tailgating – this is all we know,” said Brewers fan Russ Potratz of Omro, Wisc., as he tended to his grill cooking brats and burgers at his tailgate. “It’s a tradition. I went to my first tailgate when I was 8 years old. It was at the old Milwaukee County Stadium in 1982.” That was at a football game when the Green Bay Packers played some of their home games in Milwaukee when the NFL strike that year forced the Packers to juggle their schedule. Potratz, along with thousands of Wisconsin families like his, has passed down the love of tailgating to his children and grandchildren. He is at this game with his wife, their four children and two of their spouses, three grandkids, and two family friends. “It’s just Wisconsin,” he said. “It’s passed down through the generations. We even tailgate for high school games.”

The Brewers embrace the tailgating culture, opening all parking areas three hours ahead of the first pitch. Party Pavilions – permanent structures with awnings and picnic tables – are erected in the parking areas. Porta Potties are scattered throughout the parking lots. It seems the stadium and the surrounding parking was developed with tailgating in mind. There is even a Tailgating Haus near the stadium that can be rented any time of year.

It’s a family atmosphere where every game is like the Fourth of July and neighbor helps neighbor. For instance, Potratz was cooking his brats and burgers on an accelerated schedule because the family next to him had a faulty barbecue, and he was going to loan them his. E-Z Up canopy tents are set up in clusters. All generations are playing corn hole, playing catch, and eating plenty of brats and burgers. And there is lots of beer in ice chests as well.

American Field Park opened 25 years ago and features a retractable roof. There are large windows to the right and left of the center field scoreboard that lets in light on days the roof is closed. But, unlike other stadiums, there is not a view of anything out of those windows.

Game atmosphere: Positive

The crowd was on its feet. The game went pretty much like they thought it would with their red hot Milwaukee Brewers about to sweep the lowly Colorado Rockies. The Brewers, winners of eight of their last 10 games, had already won the first two games of the series versus the Rockies. With two outs in the ninth, the Brewers were ahead 2-1. The crowd was on its feet, roaring, anticipating the final out for the sweep. Then Orlando Arcia hit a home run to tie it. Everyone quietly sat down.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, after the Rockies had scored a run in the top half of the inning, the Brewers tied it after Sal Frelick hustled to beat out an infield single, sending Joey Ortiz to third who then scored on a wild pitch. After a walk, it appeared that Yelich grounded into a double-play. But a successful challenge showed Yelich had actually barely beat the throw to first, putting runners at first and third with one out. The crowd was on its feet again, roaring, anticipating any of a variety of ways the runner from third could score with one out. Then a shallow fly ball was hit for the second out, and the next batter struck out to end the inning. Everyone quietly sat down again.

The Rockies got a one-out single in the 11th to score again, and this time the Brewers had no answer, going out in order to give the worst-in-baseball Colorado Rockies the 4-3 victory over the hottest team. You gotta love baseball.

The kids area at American Family Field is called the Power Playground and is located in the outfield concourse area. Various stations include a race to first along a track, hitting off a tee, pitching to knock down targets, pitching where a radar gun measured the speed of the pitch, and pitching to throw into holes that outlined the strike zone. There was also arm painting (instead of face painting) and clowns making balloon animals.

Before the game, a group of area youth all-star baseball and softball players were introduced, one for each position. Then they took the field at their respective positions to wait for the Brewers to take the field to start the game. Each youth player was able to get their baseball autographed by the Brewers player who played their same position.

In the middle of the fifth inning, the fans were treated to the Famous Sausage Race. There were the usual five sausage mascots, but this time there were also five mini-sausage mascots. It was a relay race where at the halfway mark the big sausages would run to the mini-sausages, and the youngsters would finish the race. The mini-sausages were quite small, so I’m guessing they were about six years old. Two of the five mini-sausages did not understand the nature of the race. One ran to the finish at the start of the race, and the other ran to the start line instead of the finish line. In the end, it was the Bratwurst team with the victory.

The Brewers offered a trio of songs for the 7th-inning stretch. First, it was Bob Kozlowski, a Brewers staff member, singing God Bless America. Music might not be his livelihood, but it was clear music was his life. Next was the traditional “Take Me Out to The Ballgame.” Finally, it ended with “Roll Out the Barrel.” That last one goes something like this, “Roll out the barrel. We’ll have a barrel of fun. Roll out the barrel. We’ve got the blues on the run.” And more, with some zings and booms thrown in.

Ballpark cuisine: Positive

This place is loaded with food options, many with connections to local restaurants. We surveyed the field-level options and settled on Topped Dog and Blue’s Egg for our menu choices. At Topped Dog we tried the Dog of the North (apple kraut, yellow mustard, secret stadium sauce, jalapeno mayo, chopped bacon and Bavarian sprinkles). Apple kraut is the key ingredient as it is savory and sweet with the combination of sauerkraut and apples. Everything works in this hot dog. Delicious. Topped Dog will land as one of our top dogs on the trip.

Blue’s Egg has been in Milwaukee since 2010, and at the stadium they have a dedicated Mac and Cheese station. We had to try it because the preparation for this loaded mac and cheese dish is different than any of the other stadiums we have been to. The cooked macaroni is plain at first, then mixed with melted cheese after the order is placed. This is placed in the serving dish, then topped with either shredded buffalo chicken or shredded beef brisket (we chose both). Cheddar cheese is spread on top, followed by bread crumbs. Then the entire concoction is placed in a toaster oven. This melts the top cheese, toasts the breadcrumbs, and provides an oven-hot dish. Totally anti-grab-and-go. It was the best loaded mac and cheese so far. The chicken was moist. The brisket had a lot of flavor. The macaroni was creamy and moist. The toasted breadcrumbs provided a nice crunch.

Other local food venues included Story Hill B.K.C. with its Smokin’ Gouda Burger (gouda cheese, beer-butter onions, smokey chipotle ranch on a potato bun), and Maxie’s with its Chicken Cordon Brew (fried chicken breast, sliced ham, swiss cheese, beer-butter onions, and spicy brown mustard). We spent most of the time on the field level but the loge level has additional, local vendors in The Alley Food Truck Park in left field and the 3rd Street Market Hall Annex in right field. Vendors include Hidden Kitchen MKE (debuted in Milwaukee in 2015) and Smokin’ Jack’s BBQ which started dishing out quality food as a ghost kitchen in 2020.

There is also a sit-down restaurant option, J. Leinenkugel’s Barrel Yard restaurant, located in left field. It features the Best of the Wurst Platter and Leinie’s Beer-Battered Walleye. These do not qualify for our Top 10 list since fans cannot walk to a window, order them, and carry them back to their seats. The restaurant is open year-round overlooking left field. On game days it opens 90 minutes before first pitch.

Club hospitality: Positive

This is the third team where tickets were provided by a department of the club other than media relations/ communications (Braves and the Yankees were the others). But, unlike the other two teams, the tickets provided here were great, 13 rows from the field between home plate and the first base dugout. Parking was not provided but there were plenty of open lots to choose from around the stadium that were Sprinter-friendly.

Game details: Rockies win 4-3 in 11 innings. Attendance 30,037. Time of game: 3:28.

Helpful tips: Bag policy – clear bags 12”x12”x6” or smaller are permitted as well as purses. Backpacks are not allowed. … Parking was $16 to $42, depending on the day of the week (weekends more), location and whether it was prepaid. This was the first park that had a license plate recognition system for parking. Once you had your prepaid digital parking ticket, you had to activate the pass from the app by entering your license plate number. … Non-alcoholic sealed plastic bottles 32 oz. or smaller were allowed, as well as personal-sized food items such as a sandwich or a small bag of pretzels.

You don’t see that every day: During the pregame announcements, the crowd cheered each Brewer as the starting lineups were announced. Then they cheered the manager, Pat Murphy, the loudest of all. Usually, the lineups are announced without much fanfare, maybe a smattering of applause.

Game #28: Guardians versus Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago, July 1

The friendly confines of Wrigley Field are quite different than the last time I was there in the 1990s. The quaint rooftop seating where individuals turned their patio overlooking Wrigley Field into a side hustle has been obliterated by towering bleachers on top of all the buildings that are just beyond the outfield fences. It seems the Cubs didn’t like the little guy making a few bucks on their venue, so in 2015 they began to buy all the adjacent buildings to take over the rooftop market. There are 11 rooftop options, each with distinctive styles and vantage points. You can read all about it at wrigleyrooftops.com. The combined capacity of the rooftop seating is about 2,200. For me, it takes away from the intimacy of the park. (And I was obviously oblivious to this new rooftop seating area when I wrote about St. Louis in Week Six of “Sprinting Across America”.)

Wrigley Field has also upgraded one of its entrance with Gallagher Way, an open-air green space with pop-up tents. It’s on the west side of the stadium. On one side of Gallagher Way is the stadium and on the other side are restaurants, sports bars and a hotel.

“There has been a lot of development around Wrigley,” said Cub fan Ben Schneider. “It feels new on the outside and feels bigger inside with more seating. What I like about Wrigley is that the games are the primary entertainment. There is no in-game host. Fans are generally going for the experience. They know about baseball. It’s a destination. Even with the development, it’s still has the intimate neighborhood feel where you walk two blocks in any direction and you’re in somebody’s backyard.”

Growing up, I always saw the Cubs as quirky. They played only days games. Their ballpark was in the middle of a neighborhood. Then, later, all their games were broadcast on Cable TV. Their announcer, Harry Carey, endeared himself to America on those broadcasts, especially with his “Holy Cow” punctuations, and his singing of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” He was like a favorite uncle. The Cubs were known as loveable losers for decades.

They had some good teams in the late ‘60s (don’t bring up 1969 to a Cubs fan), but had only three winning seasons in the ‘70s, two winning seasons in the ‘80s, and two winning seasons in the ‘90s. But watching those games on Cable TV, you knew Cubs fans were loud and loyal.

Fast forward to today, and you have a team that wins a lot. Including this season, they have a winning record in nine of the last 11 seasons. They won a World Series title in 2016 (their first since 1908). They play night games (lights installed in 1988), and they have modernized parks of the ballpark (big scoreboards, a revamped bleacher area, and more).

Game atmosphere: Positive

Wrigley Field has a lot going for it. It’s the second oldest park in the Major Leagues, built in 1914, and retains a lot of its character from its history. The best examples of this are the ivy-covered outfield walls, and its large out-of-town hand-operated scoreboard in center field. Mounted on the scoreboard is a flag station where each National League division is represented with five team flags, stacked in order of the current standings.

The game is decided relatively early, with the Cubs starting the second inning with three hits on five pitches. Then a double gave them a 3-0 lead. The Guardians line-up featured seven of nine batters hitting .234 or less. Not a lot of punch. They did manage to score two runs but the Cubs added a couple runs and held on for the win. Reliever Daniel Palencia for the Cubs was particularly impressive, throwing 102-mph darts in his 1-2-3 ninth inning for his ninth save since May 21.

It was a very impressive crowd for a Tuesday night. The stadium is full and the bleachers, in particular, are packed. On home runs, the crowd chants in unison, “Boom, there it is.” The Cubs show many replays, even of visiting team highlights. This is a welcome change from most stadiums that totally ignore impressive plays by the visiting team. Hey, we’re baseball fans! We want to see all exciting plays again. The Cubs get this.

There were a couple members of Cubs royalty – Fergie Jenkins and Billy Williams – in attendance. And so was Ken Jennings of Jeopardy-fame who led the crowd in the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Jennings did his best to channel his inner-Harry Carey: “Let me hear you out there! A-one. A-two. A-three.”

After the victory, many of the fans stuck around to sing “Go, Cubs, Go,” a song written in 1984 by Steve Goodman. Lyrics include, “Hey, Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are going to win today. They’re singing go, Cubs, go.”

We have to give a shout out to Sean O’Callahan. Every game we ask someone to take a picture of us with the ballpark as the background. Sean, a Guardians fan sitting in the row behind us, was the random choice for this game. He has a tradition whenever asked to take a picture of someone to first take a selfie. Yes, a selfie of himself. Then, when the people review the photos, the first one is of his smiling face. When we reviewed the photos, he said, “That one was free.” It was funny so we felt he deserved a place in the write-up.

A new addition this season in the Wrigley bleachers is a seating area in the middle called “The Yard” with semi-private rental spaces that resemble a tailgate. They include tables with high-top seating, unlimited beverages, and a ballpark meal for each fan. The seats are designed to look like lawn chairs. Even the regular bleacher seats have become hot tickets with its own dedicated concessions stands with food you can’t get anywhere else in the ballpark. Bleacher tickets back in the day were $7. Now they are $60. Tickets in “The Yard” area will cost you $175.

Wrigley is the only MLB park – and maybe the only active stadium in America - that still has trough urinals. Okay, Cubs owners, you’ve got your Gallagher Way business district, and you’ve got your 2,200 rooftop bleachers. How about spending a few dollars to get individual urinals in the men’s bathrooms to give us a little privacy?!? (The renovated bleacher section was required to have individual urinals. The troughs in the rest of the stadium are grandfathered in.)

Ballpark cuisine: Negative

There were six items on our food wish list to look at or try at Wrigley Field. Unfortunately, three of them were only sold in the bleachers where we did not have access. Most stadiums allow you to go into any area of the stadium if you have a ticket to the game. But Wrigley keeps its bleacher area closely guarded for only bleacher-ticket holders. So, we tried the other three things on the list: Dill Pickle Tater Tots, Fried Ranch Bombs, and BBQ Brisket Nachos.

The tater tots had a sprig of dill laying on top, but the main “dill pickle” part of the dish was a small sauce container of creamy dill and ranch. You could look at it two ways, you paid $1 per tater tot or you paid $13 for a small container of sauce. Either way, not a good deal. The Fried Ranch Bombs order provided five small, round, fried bombs. Not a lot of distinctive flavor. It did come with a small container of honey which was definitely a highlight. But, again, not a good deal.

We held high hopes that Wrigley cuisine would be redeemed by the BBQ Brisket Nachos (barbecue beef brisket, pinto beans, cheese sauce, pickled peppers, cheddar and jack cheese, and pico de gallo). Not so much. It was light on brisket, and most of the ingredients were not layered but were jammed into the serving dish.

On a side note, the fan in front of us tried to get a bag of peanuts from a vendor walking through the stands and did not get the response he was looking for. “I’m a mobile-order guy,” the vendor said, handing him a card with the QR code to order his bag of peanuts. As the mobile-order guy walked away, the fan tossed the card onto the ground in frustration. Perhaps I could have had bleacher-only food delivered from the mobile-order guy!

Club hospitality: Positive

The club provided good seats, 17 rows from the field straight out from third base, behind the third base dugout. Media parking was limited, and we didn’t make the cut.

Game details: Cubs win 5-2. Attendance 38,257. Time of game: 2:26.

Helpful tips: Don’t try to park near Wrigley Field. Even SpotHero prices are exorbitant (from $80 to $106!). Park for free in the big parking lot at 3900 N. Rockwell Street about two miles from Wrigley. Then take the free shuttle that will drop you off two blocks from Wrigley Field. The shuttles are old school buses and start two hours before first pitch and end one hour after the game. … Bag policy – No backpacks. Other bags smaller than 16”x16”x8” are permitted, including soft-sided coolers. … Factory-sealed plastic bottles and a personal amount of food (in a small, disposable bag) can be brought into the ballpark.

You don’t see that every day: Three outs recorded in one inning with the ball never touching a bat and without the benefit of any strikes thrown by the pitcher. How can this be, you ask? In the bottom of the second inning with no outs and a runner at third, pitcher Gavin Williams of the Guardians threw a wild pitch. The runner at third tried to score but was thrown out at the plate. Then, the batter walked and was picked off first. The next batter also walked and was also picked off first base.

Tom Trepiak is the former sports information director at Humboldt State and a member of the Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics Hall of Fame.